You okay?

"No I am not okay- I'm losing my mind here." Matthew said, looking at the wolf.

Well I always said you and your brother were crazy. Besides, I'm not the one who's saying he's a ghost rider.

"That's not- I didn't choose that, and Alfred is too."

"Who are you talking to Matthew?" Arthur asked. "Are you really talking to Matthias?"

"I think so?"

"Well if we had to think about it… it sort of makes sense…" Lukas thought aloud. "I mean, if Matthias was turned by a Hell hound… and Matthew is a Ghost Rider, they're both hell creatures… right?"

"I suppose- but if that's so, why can't I understand him?" Vladimir asked, looking at Matthew and Matthias with questioning eyes. "I have never heard of telepathic communication between animal and person before."

"That's saying something. I wish we could ask Allistor." Arthur frowned, looking over at his brother, who had evidently decided that it was time for a nap. "His head is as jumbled as his shop."

"That's pretty jumbled." Lukas muttered.

"Very." Matthew muttered.

I'll say. I always trip when I go visit the guy.

Matthew just glared ahead.

"Matthias, try to refrain from talking unnecessarily. I think you're giving Matthew a headache." Lukas sighed, leaning back from where he now sat on the floor. Matthias looked at him in awe.

How did you know I talked? Can you hear me too?

"I can't hear you, but I know you well enough to know when you're irritating someone."

"That was too creepin' ta be a coincidence." Matthew said, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "What now then? I'm as lost as Liberty withou' Al when it comes ta this stuff. Alfred's the one tha's good at makin' decisions an' all tha'."

"I don't know. As of right now, you're sort of in charge. Second in command and all of that." Arthur sighed, scrubbing his face with his hands. "We don't know what attacked anyone and we have not hints as to where Alfred is. And beyond what he knows, which evidently isn't much, we know absolutely nothing about what happened to Matthias."

All I know is that I was checkin' the gates like you told me to. Then I met… something… and Now here we are. Matthias stretched his limbs lethargically as he explained his thoughts to Matthew. Ooh- what's that smell? Is Sadiq cookin?

Matthew's head snapped up at that and he looked at the huge, blonde wolf.

"That's it! Oh yer a genius, Matthias! Okay- well that's overstatin' things, but listen here!

Matthias is a wolf, which is really strange an' I'm not sure how ta handle that information. BUT he also has wolf senses. He could sniff out whatever's been out there and maybe help hunt down Alfred!"

All eyes and ears were on Matthew now.

"Even my senses didn't pick up on Alfred. I tried. His trail goes null as soon as you hit the forest." Vladimir said with a frown. "Do you think he could track it in those sort of conditions?"

"I aint sure, but what else do we have to work off of? There's nothin' else, and there's an off chance that he has supernatural wolf senses or sommat'." Matthew stood. "It's all we have, let's make use of it before sunrise." Matthew walked over to the door, turning to look at the others. "Matthias, yer with me-AUGH!"

Without any prior warning or any indication that it could even occur, Matthew clutched his stomach in agony and fell to his knees before crumpling to his side. His name escaped every set of lips as the group ran forward, trying to help their ailing friend. Arthur and Matthias reached him first and instantly began examining the poor Rider that struggled to breathe or speak.

"What's happening? Are your wounds hurting you?"

"Nn-ooo." Matthew groaned, trying to sit up, but failing from the lack of strength in his arms. He gasped and writhed before moaning out a strangled: "Al- fred… s in… trouble…!"

And his eyes snapped open wide and he let out a strangled cry

as his body caught aflame.

Alfred screamed.

And screamed.

And screamed.

The agony was unfathomable. He didn't know what was happening. All that existed in that moment was pain and agony. He felt his limbs- which didn't register well for they had been numb and unfeeling up until then- twisting and convulsing in the water. He thrashed to stay afloat and was finding that he was failing fast, for water was filling his lungs.

His captor sat far above him, sitting in midair with crossed legs. Not that Alfred could see him from where he struggled below. He had a shining, white smile and his eyes glowed black with glee at seeing the ghost rider suffer. He held a silver pitcher in his gloved hand, and was dumping the contents onto the Sherriff's head in a small stream.

"It's funny what a bit of Holy water does, isn't it?" He said. "Just a few little prayers over the water… and poof! It's deadly." His grin only grew. He finally stopped pouring the contents. "Of course, it won't kill you quite yet… you are half-human after all. An abomination."

Alfred was wheezing harshly and trying to keep himself above the surface of the lake and keep his lungs full of air. His blue eyes were glowing with blue fire, but the rest of him had remained human, creating a horribly painful illusion that his eyes were on fire.

Oh, but it wasn't an illusion.

"It's incredible really." The attacker said in his smooth and almost musical voice. "That the spirit of a single Ghost- your mother I presume- was split between the two of you! Rendering you to this state." He touched his chin in thought as he stood straight, like a composer about to lead his orchestrated talents with swift hands and smooth movement. "And of course, you're father's spirit must have triggered the change?"

"Wh-wha… d'ya w-want?" Alfred gulped out. "M'ney? P'wr? Wha- exa- ly d'ya….. want fromee?" He fought the lump in his throat and the pain that soaked through him as he confronted the beast above him. Glowing black eyes met his blue ones as his captor looked down.

"I want nothing but to cleanse this world of impurity, Mr. Sherriff. It took me a long while to find you, and now that I have you, I can finally begin my baptism for a new era. A clean world with no evil."

"Like yerself?"

"I was bourne of the church, My dear Sherriff. I Merely live to serve it's needs, no more. No less."

"Then… whyd'ya… attack… Matthi-s?" Alfred shivered.

The man above him frowned deeply, the crevices of his lips making a perfect arch down to his jaw. He lifted the pitcher again and proceeded to dump the rest of its contents onto Alfred's head. The Ghost rider screamed again, feeling the pure agony sink into his bones and saturate his every organ. His head smoked with the makings of hellfire and his limbs showed sparks of agitation.

"You can't catch fire in this lake, Mr. Rider. You know just as well as I do what happens if that fire gets put out."

Alfred just screamed in response.

Roderich smiled in satisfaction, his sharp canines gleaming in the light of a new fire.

HELLO ALL I AM ALIVE AND PLOT TWISTING

Sort of anyway, between the average of 32 hours of homework I have every week and the amount of work I have on top of that, I'm sort of half dead. WOnderful.

So This is a really short chapter, but a LOT is revealed, and thank you for the reviews! (Probably would get things done faster if you did those more HINTHINTCOUGHCOUGH) I appreciate the positive feedback and the advice! Please let me know what you think and drop me a review! AND HAVE AN AWESOME WEEK. YOU HAVE BEEN CURSED BY ME TO HAVE A GOOD WEEK